


Off the Edge

by pitchblackfingernails



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: First Time for Everything Fest, I Blame Tumblr, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Maybe other ships - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Pining Kageyama, Team Mom Sugawara Koushi, Tumblr Prompt, hinata protection squad, still undecided, sunshine hinata
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-09-26 13:59:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9901778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pitchblackfingernails/pseuds/pitchblackfingernails
Summary: And suddenly, he understood so many things. Why he had never been jealous of Oikawa’s popularity with girls, so unlike his other middle school teammates. Why he had felt immediate interest when he’d met Hinata in the bathroom before their match against each other. Why he’d felt like lightning had struck him when he saw his jump for the first time. Why he had been in awe after watching him hit that missed toss of his basketball friend. Why he had been unable to move away from him after the match had ended. Why he’d remembered him for months, and why he’d felt a shiver run through his body when he’d met him again at Karasuno, wearing the same uniform as him. And why having the redhead hit his tosses felt like finding the last missing puzzle piece, but somehow, at the same time, like undiluted adrenaline had been shot into his veins.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> You can thank http://pidgewife.tumblr.com/ for this one because this all comes from her prompt (with slight alterations) and encouraging me to completely slip into hell so here I am.  
> This is the post by the way. http://pidgewife.tumblr.com/post/157060502507/pitchblackfingernails-pidgewife  
> I think.  
> Well I won't keep you any longer you're here for the gay not the rambling. Enjoy. I hope.

Kageyama dragged himself into the classroom after the excruciating morning practice. After his customary race against him, Hinata had worked him hard, demanding tosses again… and again… and again. He would never stop wondering where all that goddamned energy came from. He was so tiny, so why did he have that incredible stamina?  
And yet, Kageyama could never help himself. Every time he heard Hinata’s voice, asking him for “One more!”, every time he was deciding who to toss to and felt his presence behind him and heard the air rushing past him from the run-up, a shiver made its way down his spine, and his heart beat like crazy. His body tossed the ball just for him on its own volition, as if it was an instinct he had been born with, as if the ball were a magnet that was drawn to Hinata’s hands. It was a heady sensation, though, every time the ball landed in the opposite court with a decisive smack after the spiker hit it. He had never felt anything like it before.  
He was pulled out of his reverie by a shout of his name. He turned around to see one of his classmates walking towards him. “Kageyama!”  
“What?”  
“Your teammate is so cool! It’s so nice, what he did for you. Did you know that it already has 500 likes? Amazing!”  
“What?” But he had already walked away, leaving Kageyama beyond confused. Before he was completely out of sight, he turned around once more. “Ah, I almost forgot. Happy birthday!”  
Wait, what? Kageyama took his phone out of his pocket to check the date. December 22nd. He was right. Today was his birthday.  
“Kageyama!” Somebody else, this time a girl, came up to him. Kageyama didn’t recognize her, so he guessed (hoped) that she wasn’t in his class or about to confess. That would make things very awkward.  
“Happy birthday! Did you see the Flipagram Hinata made for you? It’s amazing! Everyone in school has been retweeting it like crazy. He’s so nice! Do you know if he has a girlfriend?”  
Kageyama was now beyond confused. First and foremost, what the hell was even a Flipagram? It sounded dumb. And what did it mean, that Hinata had made one for him? What had that dumbass done this time?  
Before he could even answer, other people began to gather around him, wishing him a happy birthday and asking questions about things Kageyama did not understand. What did they even want from him? How did they even know about his birthday? He wasn’t the type to go around broadcasting his personal information, and it wasn’t like he had any close friends that would know…  
His trail of thought trickled away, and everything clicked in his mind. It had to be dumb-ass Hinata’s fault, for sure. He was physically incapable of shutting up and had probably told everyone to embarrass him. He was going to whoop his ass the next time he saw him.  
Somehow, he was saved by the bell and got to class relatively unscathed, but his classmates kept throwing him looks and checking something on their phones under their tables. Thankfully their Classic Literature teacher was very old and borderline senile, so he didn’t notice that his students were not paying attention at all, and just droned on and on for the rest of the lesson.  
This pattern continued for the rest of the day. Random people kept coming up to him to congratulate him and talk about how good a friend Hinata was and how nobody had ever done a Flipagram for them and how he was really lucky to have Hinata. Kageyama felt like his head was going to explode from the excess of information. He had even received a message from Oikawa (whom he had most definitely never given his number to):  
“Tobio-kun, happy birthday! Such a nice thing Chibi-chan did for you! I’m so happy that he treats you so well ヽ(　´　∇　｀　)ノ”  
His glare would probably have killed Oikawa if he had been unfortunate enough to stand in front of him.  
He was on his way back from the bathroom when he met Yachi, who was talking to some of her classmates when she noticed him. “Kageyama! Happy birthday!”  
“Thank God, someone I can finally ask. Yachi, how do you know it’s my birthday?!”  
Yachi tilted her head. “What do you mean? The whole school knows, after the Flipagram Hinata posted this morning.”

Again, that word! “Yachi, what is this Flipagram thing everybody is talking about? I don’t know what it means!”  
Yachi’s mouth popped open. “Seriously? It’s like a video that you make with pictures and music. It’s been trending for a while now. Kageyama, what do you even have a smartphone for?”  
“So Hinata made a video about my birthday?” Kageyama tried to process this. “Why?”  
“Well, to congratulate you, I guess. Wait, you haven’t even watched it? It’s so nice, it already has like 900 likes!”  
“I haven’t watched it. I didn’t even know it existed before you told me.”  
“Wait, I downloaded it on my phone because it was so cute. Let me send it to you. You can watch it then.” Yachi took out her phone and started fumbling with it, tapping away. After a few seconds, Kageyama felt his own phone vibrate in his pocket. He checked it, and saw that he had received an mp4 file from Yachi under the title “Canon Kagehina”.  
Kageyama frowned. “Yachi, what is this “canon” thing? I thought it was called Flipagram? And who is Kagehina?”  
“AGGGGGHHHH!!!” Yachi snatched his phone from his hand. “No, no this is nothing, just forget about it. Oh my God I’m so glad that you don’t understand the internet.” She returned his phone, and saw that the file’s name had been changed to “HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAGS”, followed by a little picture of a smiling face.  
“That’s actually how he uploaded it on twitter. Well, enjoy. See you at practice!”  
Kageyama headed back to class. It was the last lesson before lunch, before he could finally go and give Hinata an earful about being an annoying dumbass.  
When he remembered that he still had to watch the video, the teacher had stepped out of the classroom for a second. He took out his phone and searched for the file that Yachi had sent him, and pressed play.

A tune that did most definitely sound familiar blared out of his phone, before he quickly turned it off again. Shit, earbuds. Thankfully, he always carried a pair in his bag. He took them out, untangled them, hooked them up to his phone and pressed play once again.  
The music started once again. It was upbeat and refreshing, and he found himself tapping his foot to the beat. Only when the lyrics started did he recognize the song. It was “Days” by Avicii. He had never talked with Hinata about music, but this kind of upbeat song was definitely one he could imagine the middle blocker blasting out of the speakers in his room, jumping around erratically.  
Then, the pictures started. SO MANY PICTURES. How had he even gotten them all?  
The first photograph was the one Yachi had used for the poster to ask for donations for their trip to Tokyo. It was Hinata jumping to spike, soaring through the air, the number 10 prominent on his back. It immediately switched to a picture of Kageyama, right while he was tossing the ball. Sweat ran down his temple, and his eyes were focused on Hinata, fixing him with an intent stare.  
And as the music kept playing, pictures of their practices, matches, lunches kept appearing and disappearing, one after the other. Hinata taking a selfie while running from Kageyama after having “accidentally” dropped his water bottle. Hinata was laughing, while Kageyama looked ready for murder. Then, a picture of Tanaka giving Kageyama a high five. A photo of Tsukishima snickering while Hinata and Kageyama bantered. Several pictures of them on the bus, the ones taken while going to a match characterized by Hinata’s pale face and his attempts to block the camera with his hands, and the ones taken while returning featuring a sleeping Kageyama with Hinata pulling weird faces. There was also a photo in which both of them were asleep, and Tanaka and Nishinoya were drawing on their faces with a Sharpie. From there on, it was a little short story told through pictures: them perfecting the last touches, while Tsukishima was covering his mouth; them having finished their work of art, posing next to the pair’s faces, grinning; a completely terrifying Daichi hitting them both and screaming; Kageyama and Hinata waking up, seeing each other’s faces and laughing; realizing that they had the same thing on their own face; and, last of all, both of them jumping towards the camera, ready for revenge.  
Kageyama was speechless. It was like someone had taken the last few months and compressed then into a few pictures. No, not someone. Hinata had done it. For him. For his birthday.  
There were also pictures that were more serious than funny. There was one taken after their defeat by Seijoh. His chest tightened, the memory still bitter, even after having won the last match against him. You never forgot the taste of victory or defeat. Both would remain forever in Kageyama’s memories.  
But, immediately after that accursed picture, more photos popped up, illustrating their preparation for the prefecture’s preliminaries and qualifiers. There were even pictures about how they had studied to travel to Tokyo, Hinata ruffling his hair in complete and utter desperation, and Kageyama passed out on the floor, unresponsive, featuring an exasperated Yachi trying to do the impossible to get them to understand basic English. There was also a selfie that Hinata had taken while Tanaka’s sister had driven them to Tokyo, with both him and her grinning, and Kageyama himself sleeping in the backseat, drool spilling out of his mouth. There were also a ton of pictures taken during the training camp.  
Even though there weren’t any pictures of it, Kageyama remembered their fight. He remembered how they’d shouted at each other, how they’d hit each other, how they’d trained apart, how he’s asked Oikawa for help, how they hadn’t talked for weeks…  
But even more than that, he remembered how it had felt after they had finally managed their new quick. How they had looked at each other, with a wide grin on their faces. He especially remembered how Hinata had called him awesome with glittering eyes. Looking back, he most definitely had never felt anything similar to that in his life.  
And then came the more recent photographs, all of the Spring High Miyagi Prefecture Representative Play-offs. Ouginami and Kakugawa first, followed by Johzenji, Wakutani and Aobajousai. For that last one, there was a picture where the whole team was in a pile on the ground, rejoicing in their victory, laughing of the taste of bitter defeat. Looking at the picture, he thought about the words he’d said to Asahi when he and Hinata had gone to convince him to return to the volleyball club. “You can’t win on your own. That’s just how it is.” He’d stated. Because it was a truth that Karasuno, and especially Hinata, had taught him.  
And then, at last, came the pictures of the Prefecture Finals, against Shiratorizawa. There were more pictures than for any of their previous matches.  
Photos of before the match, of the first vertical spike they’d done to shut the Shiratorizawa cheering squad up, of the huddle, and of the people cheering for them: the men from the Karasuno neighborhood team, Tsukishima’s brother, Tanaka’s sister, both of Hinata’s friends from middle school, Yachi…  
And then, the actual match: the two sets they’d lost, and the three sets they’d won, all of their spikes, and, finally, the last point. Kageyama’s receive after having switched places with Hinata, and the very last spike: the first tempo synchronized attack, which Kageyama had decided with a toss to Hinata in a back attack.  
After that came the pictures of the celebration: the cheers, the team’s stunned faces, Takeda’s and the third years bawling their eyes out, Noya and Kageyama dragging Hinata because he couldn’t move his legs anymore.  
And finally, the awards ceremony, with the team holding their heads high, knowing that, for now, they were the winners, that they could stand on the court once more, that their journey wasn’t ending just yet.  
And, at last, as the song faded away, one last picture: both of them on the bus, eyes tired but full of the happiness of knowing that they were the victors, wearing their medals. But then, suddenly, the picture started to move, and Kageyama realized that it wasn’t a picture at all, but a video. How had he not noticed Hinata filming this?  
In the video, while holding up his phone with one hand, Hinata was reaching for the medal hanging around Kageyama’s neck, like a cat fishing for his favorite toy.  
“Dumb-ass, stop that!” Kageyama tried to slap his hand away, but, as always, the little redhead was faster than him and evaded the hit, managing to grab the medal on the process and showing it to the camera. “VICTORY!!!!”  
Both the Kageyama in the video and the Kageyama watching the video flinched at the loud voice.  
“Dumb-ass, stop shouting into my ear!”  
“YEAHHHHHH!” Noya’s and Tanaka’s voices echoes Hinata, followed suit by Daichi’s “Shut up!”.  
“Kageyama, Kageyama, let’s do that thing that the pro athletes do when they win, that thing where they kiss their medals!” Hinata let go of Kageyama’s medal to grab onto his own and kiss it for the camera.  
“Dumb-ass, that’s embarrassing, I’m not doing that.”  
“Fine, if you won’t do it, then I will.” And before the Kageyama in the video could react, Hinata had taken hold of the setter’s medal once more and planted a kiss on it.  
“DUMB-AAAAAASS!” Kageyama roared at him, grabbing the small spiker and shaking him for all he was worth.  
“HINATA! KAGEYAMA!” Daichi’s voice was the last thing that could be heard in the video before the image froze, displaying Hinata winking at the camera and Kageyama with his hands around his neck, with a blush coloring his cheeks.  
And finally, letters jumped around the screen for a few seconds, before settling so that Kageyama could read the message.  
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU ANGRY DORK”  
And as the letters were blown away by another outrageous effect that suited Hinata only too well, the picture revealed itself once more, and Kageyama was left looking at his flushed face.  
And suddenly, he understood so many things. Why he had never been jealous of Oikawa’s popularity with girls, so unlike his other middle school teammates. Why he had felt immediate interest when he’d met Hinata in the bathroom before their match against each other. Why he’d felt like lightning had struck him when he saw his jump for the first time. Why he had been in awe after watching him hit that missed toss of his basketball friend. Why he had been unable to move away from him after the match had ended. Why he’d remembered him for months, and why he’d felt a shiver run through his body when he’d met him again at Karasuno, wearing the same uniform as him. And why having the redhead hit his tosses felt like finding the last missing puzzle piece, but somehow, at the same time, like undiluted adrenaline had been shot into his veins into his veins.  
But, most of all, he suddenly understood that phrase that had never made sense to him. “A picture is worth more than a thousand words.” Because he was pretty sure that, no matter how hard he tried, and even if he had been good at Japanese, he could never have found the words to describe the feelings that were bouncing around inside him like volleyballs.  
Or maybe, he could. After all, that would be an explanation as to why the same words had been repeating themselves over and over again in his mind for quite some time now, like a timeless melody, in perfect coordination with his heartbeat.  
I am in love with Hinata Shouyou.  
“Kageyama!” He jumped as someone called his name. Behind him, his classmate’s face looked concerned. “Are you okay? Your face is red.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess there's that.  
> There will be more coming because this obviously wasn't enough for my junkie self, so look forward to it. Or maybe not, if you didn't like it. God why am I like this.  
> Anyways I'm on tumblr with the exact same username, so if you need someone to fangirl with about Kagehina hit me up because I need someone too after failing to convince my sister to step into Haikyuu hell with me.  
> And in case you're too lazy to look it up (no shame, I can totally relate) I'll just leave the link right here.  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/pitchblackfingernails  
> You can also talk to me about embarrassing typos or about how great/shit this was or about how I'm so lazy and should release the next chapter already or about how much of a douche bag Donald Trump is... or whatever you feel like, really.
> 
> Til next time, then.


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we go, second chapter. I have had half of this written for ages, but then I lost the USB stick I had it on, and only found it a few days ago. So today I finally sat down and finished it - so I hope you enjoy.

As the lunch bell rang, Kageyama was still going around in circles after having come to the conclusion that he loved Hinata. What was love? He had never been in love before, not with girls, and not with guys. Volleyball had always been all that had existed in his world, and guys had been either his teammates, or on the other side of the net and, therefore, opponents. And girls just had never been a part of it. He had never been like the other members of the Kitagawa Daichi team, jealous of the crowd of girls cheering for Oikawa. He had been jealous of his setter award, but never the girls.  
It hadn’t changed in high school, either. People just didn’t register on his radar unless they were on the court, and then, never romantically or sexually, just as allies or rivals.  
Except Hinata, apparently. If somebody asked him what Hinata was to him, he frankly wouldn’t know what to answer. Hinata was the person that troubled him the most. Hinata was the south to this north, the light to his dark. Hinata was his greatest weapon, his greatest rival and his greatest ally, all at once. Hinata made him invincible, just as Kageyama made him unbeatable. Hinata was his partner.  
But, in the end, all of that was only on the court. But what about when they were not playing volleyball? Granted, both of them spent all of their free time on volleyball, and often practiced together, but on the rare occasions that they were together and not playing, the dumb-ass was good for him, too. He had fun with him, and a lot of it. He could talk easier with his other teammates when Hinata was there, and he enjoyed their bantering greatly. It kept him on edge, sharp, striving to improve himself. Hinata also uncovered parts of him that he had kept buried for a long time. The time after they had lost to Seijoh, Kageyama had been still, quiet, like death. He had tried to suppress his emotions, had been on the verge of becoming the way he was in middle school: cold, not beg able to rely or turn to anyone, alone.  
But seeing Hinata’s outburst had put an abrupt end to all of that. Hinata had pulled him out of that black hole with his screaming and running and jumping around. He had allowed Kageyama to do the same, to let loose, to get rid of all of the frustration that he would have kept bottled up otherwise. All thanks to the little redhead.  
Kageyama knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hinata was, as of this moment, the most important person in his life. But that didn’t necessarily mean that he was in love with him, right? For some people, their family were most important, or their friends. So, what was the difference?  
There was also the physical aspect of it. If he really loved Hinata, that also mean that he liked him like that, didn’t it? If he really was in love, that meant that he would want to kiss Hinata…  
And just as that thought was running through his head, he saw an unruly mop of fiery red hair appear. The spiker had not seen him yet. For a split second, he seriously considered grabbing his lunchbox and hiding out in the bathroom in order to avoid Hinata. He really couldn’t imagine facing him now. But that would only be postponing the problem, wouldn’t it? After all, there was practice, and after that, walking home together and getting buns at Coach Ukai’s store.  
Well, it was too late now anyway. Hinata had now spotted him and was bouncing towards him. Kageyama could not help himself and blushed, recalling what he had been thinking about doing to him.  
“Hey, Kageyama!” Just in that moment, he was saved by a random bystander. “I watched the Flipagram. Happy birthday! Those photos were really sick. Next up is the Spring High, right? Go for it!” Only then did the student notice Hinata, and turn to him. “Hey, Hinata, you’re the one who made the video, right? Awesome, it turned out really great! You’re going to have to teach me how to make one, my girlfriend’s birthday is coming up and I think she would love it if I made her one of those.”  
Hinata laughed. “Sure, but you’re going to have to lend me your Math homework for a week then. I don’t get what we’re doing right now at all.”  
“Done deal, mate. Hey, by the way, good luck at the Nationals, I’m cheering for you! Knock ‘em dead!” And with that, he went his way, and Kageyama and Hinata were left alone.  
“Dumb-ass!” The word burst out from the taller boy, and his right hand reflexively went to the shorter one’s head, grabbing it and squeezing. Hard.  
“Ow ow ow, what is that for? I didn’t do anything!” Hinata whined, trying to escape his partner’s hold.  
“Because of you people I don’t know have been coming up to me all day wishing me a happy birthday!”

“Oh, so you saw the Flipagram I made? Isn’t it super cool? It took me ages! And all of the photos are so cool. I didn’t even know that the ‘whoosh’ quick and the ‘gyun’ quick look like that, but it’s great! And then there is this awesome picture of you tossing at the beginning, did you see it?” The redhead was taking out his phone to show him when, all of a sudden, he quieted down. “Oh my God look at the time, we have wasted 10 minutes already! Let’s go practice at the gym before lunch is over, come on, come on, come on!”  
And with that, the little ball of energy had already taken off running down the hallway, speeding towards the exit and the gymnasium.  
Kageyama stood still for a moment, but then his mind caught up and he was giving chase.  
“DUMB-ASS!” he bellowed, drawing the attention of everyone around them. “getting a head start is cheating!”

¥

“But why can’t we practice in the gym?” Kageyama asked. It was stupid, after having lunch, he wanted to practice, but Hinata was being a dumb-ass.  
“Because… Because Noya-san wanted to practice tossing with the others, and we would just be in the way of the second and third years! Besides, it’s such a nice weather today, it’d be a shame to spend it inside, right?”  
“Hinata, it’s December. There’s snow everywhere. It’s cold. We’re practicing inside.” The setter turned to walk towards the gym, when suddenly, a hand grabbed his own and started pulling him in the opposite direction.  
“Wait!”  
The taller boy felt his face heat up. “What are you doing? Let me go, dumb-ass!”  
Before Kageyama could say anything else or dwell further on the embarrassment of Hinata holding his hand, the middle blocker grabbed the ball that the setter had hooked under his arm and sprinted off in the opposite direction.  
“Dumb-ass Hinata! What are you doing? Give it back!”  
“You’re going to have to catch me first if you want it!” The redhead turned around for a split second, stuck out his tongue, and kept going.  
But of course, catching Hinata, with his speed and endurance, and a head start, was impossible for anybody. His physical abilities were seriously not to be taken lightly. It was inhuman.  
They hadn’t gotten any practice by the time the bell rang. It made class even more unbearable. Kageyama’s only comfort was that he’d have practice after and he could pay Hinata back for having wasted his precious lunch break with his silliness. Not because he could see Hinata again. Absolutely not.  
When classes ended and Kageyama had gathered his things, he headed to the club room to change. If he had been a more attentive person, he would have noticed that only Narita and Ennoshita were in there, when usually, everybody was getting changed at this time. He also didn’t take note when they went out the second Kageyama stepped in.  
Only when he approached the gym did he notice that something was up. He couldn’t hear anything, not the sound of the shoes squeaking, or the noise of the ball hitting the floor after a spike.  
As he opened the doors, he took notice that nobody was inside, and that the lights were off. Was he the first?  
Just as he was about to head to the storage room to get the balls, the lights suddenly turned on, and the team burst from behind the doors and inside the storage room and from the upper level.  
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAGEYAMA!!”  
The birthday boy did a double take at the shout. What was happening?  
“Well, well, someone seems surprised!” Tanaka laughed, coming up to him and throwing his arm around his neck.  
“Yeah! Total success! He really didn’t suspect a thing.” Nishinoya agreed, on his other side, patting his back.  
“Well, the king is not really known for his wits now, is he?” Tsukkishima smirked.  
“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi admonished him.  
Only then did Kageyama get the chance to really look around the gym. There were balloons stuck to the rails of the upper level and to the walls, streamers hung from the ceiling, and a banner with his name on it and a picture of his face.  
“Wait, we’re not done yet. Everybody in position?” Sugawara said, looking down at them from above. Hinata, Ennoshita and Daichi were with him, and, on the opposite side, Asahi, Yachi, Kiyoko, Narita and Kinoshita gave him a thumbs up.  
“One, two and… Three!” And then, confetti began to rain down on all of them. But Kageyama bore the brunt of it, of course. Even more so after Hinata, too excited, leaned out too far and dropped his entire bag on the setter’s head. His hair was no longer black, but a nice collage of vivid colors.  
“Hinata, you dumb-ass!”  
“Oh, no.” Hinata quickly backed away and disappeared.  
“Stop running!”

¥

“Okay, enough of that.” Daichi said, pulling the two of them apart. Kageyama tried to get one last hit in, which was blocked.  
“Now, now, let’s do presents!” Sugawara came up to them, holding up two parcels. “They’re from the whole team.”  
Kageyama couldn’t believe it. No one outside of his family had ever given him a birthday gift before.  
“Oh, open this one first!” A wrapped box was shoved into his hands.  
Kageyama tore the paper apart to reveal a shoe box. No way.  
But there they were. A brand-new pair of volleyball shoes, all fancy in black and white and silver.  
“Aren’t they nice?  
They were. A good brand, too. The team hadn’t just gone for the cheapest they could find.  
“Ennoshita and Asahi chose them. They have good taste, don’t they?” Yamaguchi said, smiling.  
“Why didn’t you let me choose them? It’s so unfair. The neon yellow ones were the best, definitely.” Hinata pouted, arms crossed.  
“Uh, no, they were not. Jesus, Hinata, what’s wrong with you?” Ennoshita flinched remembering the atrocities that Hinata had fussed over a few days before.  
“Now, now. What Ennoshita means that while they may suit you, those shoes wouldn’t exactly fit Kageyama’s image?” Asahi intervened hastily, ever the pacifist.  
“Well that’s true. Kageyama is so gloomy, the only color that would ever look good on him is black.” Hinata grinned.  
“What did you say, dumb-ass?!” Kageyama was about to launch himself at Hinata, who had quickly hidden himself behind Narita and Kinoshita. However, Daichi grabbed him by the shirt.  
“Let’s finish with the presents before you two run off, please.” The captain seemed on the verge of being angry, which had the effect of stopping the freak duo in their tracks. They never wanted to see something that terrifying ever again.  
“I have the other gift!” Yachi waved around the bag in her hand, before handing it to the setter. He took the wrapped… whatever it was out of the bag. It was soft. Probably some sort of clothing.  
Not being able to rein in his curiosity, he proceeded to rip at it until black fabric was revealed.  
A T-shirt. He unfolded it to see that something was written on it in white.  
There was a little volleyball on top of a sentence that read ‘Keep calm and play volleyball.’  
“Well? Don’t be shy, try it on!” Tanaka slapped him on the back hard.  
“Yeah! Don’t be shy!” Nishinoya echoed.  
“I’m not shy. Stop it.”  
“Well then try it on!” Kageyama gave in and put it on. It was just the right size.  
“Well don’t you look dashing?” Sugawara said, smiling.  
Hinata came up to him on the other side and tugged on his sleeve.  
“Well, black is his color, after all.”  
The taller boy started, then looked away quickly. Not the time to think about that.  
“And Kageyama, you’ll never guess. Check out who got the same one! Since it’s such a cool T-shirt and all.” And with that, the little spiker unzipped his jacket to reveal the exact same shirt, but in red. “We match!”  
And all of a sudden, the setter felt the heat start in his toes and fingertips, traveling up his legs and arms, and linger in his chest before finally rising up and coming to rest on his face, making an impressive impersonation of a tomato and rivalling the color of his teammate’s shirt.  
And he realized that there was most definitely no running from it anymore. That no matter how bad he might be at school, he wasn’t dumb enough to not recognize this for what it was.  
That he really loved, or at least, liked Hinata very much. That the time had come to deal with the feelings he had been blind to up to this morning.  
“W-who wants to match with you, dumb-ass?! Take it off!” He shouted and made a grab for the smaller boy, who evaded him smoothly.  
“No way!”  
And so, another pursuit took place, until finally Daichi had had enough and put a stop to their shenanigans to finally start practice.  
And while Tsukishima was teasing an infuriated Hinata about why he had even gotten the T-shirt in English, since he sucked at it (and everything else, for that matter) so badly, Kageyama watched him, and how his orange hair fluttered as he moved his head in agitation, or how his nose was scrunched in displeasure. And the flush in his cheeks wouldn’t settle. Fortunately, he could attribute it to exercise.  
“Now, now, Kageyama, no need to be so angry.” Sugawara came up next to him, smiling. “He spent ages before he finally decided on that T-shirt, and he really wanted to match with you, too.”  
“What?” His head snapped around to look at the silver-haired boy.  
“Oh, yeah. Hinata chose that. And I really think he wanted matching ones for both of you from the start, since he asked if they had it in both your sizes for every T-shirt he looked at.”  
“What?” Kageyama’s brain felt frozen while having a meltdown, all at the same time.  
“Well, I guess he really does want to match in his partner in every aspect.”  
And as all of it caught up at once and he imagined Hinata investing the time to find the perfect tee for both of the to wear together, his composure crumbled, and he blushed all the way up to his ears. Not like. Most definitely love.  
And while his head was on the verge of exploding, he forgot all about the vice-captain standing next to him, eyes wide, watching Kageyama’s reaction, and putting together the puzzle whose pieces he hadn’t realized were even there up to this moment.  
And then, he realized that he had to try to think of a way to avoid complete and utter heartbreak and the destruction of the team’s balance and most effective offense – all at once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for today. I will probably start writing chapter 3 tomorrow, and I still don't really now how many chapters this thing is going to be. I guess I'll just see where Kagehina takes me. You know, apart from the hell which I've been firmly stuck in ever since I discovered this piece of art existed.  
> So, once again, hit me up on tumblr if you want to have a nice chat about any of my ships because we will probably become best friends in 0.5 seconds. My username is literally the same as here, pitchblackfingernails.  
> Also, please do so if you read the Haikyuu!! manga since I'm dying to talk about it with someone, but most people only watch the anime. Especially about the latest chapters.
> 
> Wellp, see you next time!
> 
> Exeunt.
> 
> PS: Somehow I noticed that my end note for the previous chapter shows up on this chapter as well. Is it just me, or do you guys see it too? And if you see it, how do I get rid of it?  
> Just me and my technical incompetence.


End file.
